Ryan Blaney vows to stand by Roger Penske ‘no matter what’ days after shocking turn of events

Ryan Blaney says he will stand by Roger Penske no matter what, after three top officials at Team Penske were let go following a cheating scandal in IndyCar. After completing the qualifying runs for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25, Blaney spoke about the situation, calling Roger Penske the type of person you want as a leader.

Team Penske President Tim Cindric, Managing Director Ron Ruzewski, and General Manager Kyle Moyer were removed from their roles after illegal parts were found on two of the team’s cars at the 2025 Indy 500 qualifying. The infractions involved unauthorized changes to the rear attenuators, a safety feature meant to absorb impact in crashes.

This violated IndyCar rule 14.7.8.16 and was caught during a pre-qualifying inspection on Sunday, May 18. The cars affected belonged to defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden and teammate Will Power. As a result, both drivers were penalized and forced to start from the back of the field, in 32nd and 33rd positions.

Ryan Blaney, who drives full-time for Team Penske in NASCAR and won the Cup Series title in 2023, said the news was difficult to hear. Notably, he has worked closely with Tim Cindric since the beginning of his time with the team. Even so, Blaney made it clear that his support remains with Penske.

"Roger's our leader, we follow him no matter where he goes," Blaney said (via Frontstretch). "I'm going to have Roger's back every single time, no matter what situation… I talk to him every single week, but you know, when something like that happens, he wants to come fly down to Charlotte, have a meeting with everybody, just kind of give us an understanding of his mindset…" (2:30 onwards)

"So I mean, that's just kind of the leader you want, right? Someone who is in it with you is a very open book as far as how he's feeling, and things like that. So as someone who works for them and drives for them, I expect nothing less because that's just the type of person that Roger is and always has been," Ryan Blaney added.

Ryan Blaney is now preparing for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He will start 21st after a disappointing qualifying session on Saturday.

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Ryan Blaney is gunning for another Coca-Cola 600 win

Ryan Blaney is aiming for a second Coca-Cola 600 win this Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He won the race in 2023, breaking a long 59-race winless streak on his way to becoming that season’s NASCAR Cup Series champion.

This year, Blaney is currently fifth in the Cup Series standings and still hasn’t confirmed his playoff berth with a race win. With 13 races left in the regular season, he’s in a good spot but knows how important Sunday night’s race can be.

Blaney has a personal connection to the Coca-Cola 600. As a kid, he would come to the track to watch his father, Dave Blaney, race at Charlotte.

"It’s a cool race to win, man," Blaney said (via Forbes.com). "...It was always special, Memorial Day weekend, being able to just be around the racetrack and things like that, and what the weekend means. For that race, it’s super rewarding to win it because it’s the longest race we have."

"It’s a long night, you’re in that thing, stressing it out for four-plus hours and just mentally, stay in it for 600 miles... If you can do it, if you can outlast everybody and just outperform everybody over a long stretch that night, it’s a fun weekend. I’m inching for another one, hopefully we can do it," he added.

The 600-mile race on the Charlotte oval is scheduled to start at 6:00 pm ET on Sunday.